Participating Effectively in
District and College Governance
The Law, Regulation and Guidelines
ACADEMIC SENATE
for California Community Colleges
Community College League
OF CALIFORNIA
The California Community College System
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When did we begin?
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Where did we begin?
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What is our mission?
A Little Bit of History—The CCC Mission
1907
1917
“Public Junior Colleges” established in
California to teach the first two years of
university study for high school graduates.
n  Training in “mechanical and industry arts,
household economy, agriculture, civic
education and commerce” added to
mission.
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A Little Bit of History—The CCC Mission
1960
1976
Donahoe act sets primary missions of the
junior colleges as transfer courses,
vocational and technical study leading to
employment, and general or liberal arts
courses.
n  Name changed to “community colleges”
and community services added to the
mission.
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A Little Bit of History—The CCC Mission
1988
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AB 1725 (Vasconcellos) sets the following
mission priorities:
n Lower Division Arts and Sciences
n Vocational and Occupational Fields
n Remedial Instruction
n Adult Noncredit Education
n Community Service Courses and
Programs
A Little Bit of History—The CCC Mission
1996
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“Advancing California’s economic growth
and global competitiveness through
education, training and services that
contribute to continuous work force
improvement” added to mission.
AB1725: Redefining Our System
What did AB 1725 do?
§  Funding system changed
§  Mission priorities set
§  Established faculty qualifications, tenure
periods, evaluation processes
§  Set goal of 75% full-time faculty
§  Funding for professional development
§  Diversity goals set
§  Delineated governance and decision-making
AB1725: Redefining Our System
What was the intent of AB 1725?
n Enhance community college image
n Increase support for more money
n Move from K-12 to higher education
n Develop more unified system
n Institutional renewal
Governance in the
California Community Colleges
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What is participatory governance?
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What is shared governance?
n What is the difference?
Participatory Governance
“ … not a simple process to implement – goodwill,
thoughtful people, a willingness to take risks and the
ability to admit problems exist – can go far toward
establishing a positive environment…
The central objective should be creation of a climate
where energy is devoted to solving crucial
educational tasks and not to turf battles over
governance.”
CCCT/CEOCCC Policy Paper, December 1989
Title 5 Terminology: Effective Participation
Participating effectively in district and college
governance is shared involvement in the
decision-making process.
§  It does not imply total agreement;
§  The same level of involvement by all is not
required; and
§  Final decisions rest with the board or
designee.
Benefits and Values of Our Governance
System
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Expertise and analytical skills of many
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Understanding of objective/decisions
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Commitment to implementation
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Leadership opportunities
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Promotion of trust and cooperation
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Opportunities for conflict resolution
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Less dissent
Challenges of Our Governance System
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Participation by individuals with limited
expertise
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Time away from other duties
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Can require considerable time for decision
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Shared accountability
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Differing expectations and understanding
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Potential conflict if board/designee rejects
recommendation
The Law—Education Code
Board of Governors shall establish "minimum standards" and
local governing boards shall "establish procedures not
inconsistent" with those standards to ensure the following:
§  Faculty, staff and students the right to participate
effectively in district and college governance and
§  The right of academic senates to assume primary
responsibility for making recommendations in the
areas of curriculum and academic standards.
Education Code Sections 70901 and 70902
Regulation: Academic Senate Role
(a) The governing board shall adopt policies for
appropriate delegation of authority and
responsibility to its academic senate.
…providing at a minimum the governing
board or its designees consult collegially with the
academic senate when adopting policies and
procedures on academic and professional matters.
Title 5 §53203
Regulation: Academic Senates
"Consult collegially" means
1. Relying primarily upon the advice and judgment of
the academic senate; or
2. Reaching mutual agreement between the governing
board/designee and representatives of the
academic senate.
Title 5 §53200
Regulation: Academic Senates
(d)(1) Governing board action: Rely
Primarily
§ recommendations of the senate will
normally be accepted
§ only in exceptional circumstances and
for compelling reasons will the
recommendations not be accepted
§ If not accepted, board/designee
communicate its reasons in writing, if
requested
Title 5 §53200
Question
If the governing board chooses the option
to "rely primarily" on the advice of the
academic senate on a specific issue, is
the board required to accept the
recommendation of the senate?
Question
A district governing board which chooses the
"rely primarily" procedure is normally supposed
to accept recommendations of the senate in
any of the ten defined areas of "academic and
professional matters" unless there are
"exceptional circumstances" and "compelling
reasons." What do these mean?
Regulation: Academic Senates
(d)(2) Governing board action: Mutual Agreement
§  If agreement not reached, existing policy
remains in effect unless
§  exposure to legal liability
§  or substantial fiscal hardship.
§  If no policy or existing policy creates exposure to
legal liability or substantial fiscal hardship
§  board may act if agreement not reached
§  if good faith effort first
§  only for compelling legal, fiscal, or
organizational reasons
Title 5 §53200
Question
A district governing board which chooses the
"mutual agreement" procedure on is supposed
to reach written agreement on an issue with the
senate. When may a board act if it is not able
to reach mutual agreement with the academic
senate?
Important Notes on Collegial Consultation
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The Board has the final say
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The Board is never prohibited from acting
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"exceptional circumstances: and "compelling
reasons" VS "compelling legal, fiscal, or
organizational reasons"
Regulation: Academic Senates (§53200)
Academic and professional matters means the
following policy development and implementation
matters:
1.  Degree and certificate requirements
2.  Curriculum, including establishing prerequisites and
placing courses within disciplines
3.  Grading policies
4.  Educational program development
5.  Standards or policies regarding student preparation
and success
Title 5 §53200
Regulation: Academic Senates (§53200)
Academic and professional matters means the
following policy development and implementation
matters:
6.  District and college governance structures, as
related to faculty roles
7.  Faculty roles and involvement in accreditation
processes, including self study and annual reports
8.  Policies for faculty professional development
activities
9.  Processes for program review
10. Processes for institutional planning and budget
development, and…
Regulation: Academic Senates (§53200)
Academic and professional matters means the
following policy development and implementation
matters:
“Plus one”:
Other academic and professional matters as
mutually agreed upon between the governing board
and the academic senate.
Scenario #1 (from Scenarios to Illustrate Effective
Participation in District and College Governance)
The administration met over the summer to discuss college
reorganization. When faculty returned in the fall, they were
presented with a draft plan which merged discipline
departments into new divisions. The merged division offices
were to be separated into two locations. In one location would
be the classified staff and the faculty mailboxes and in the
other location would be the offices of the division deans. The
stated purposes of the draft plan were to 1) enable student
services and instruction to work together in an integrated
fashion, 2) commingle faculty from the general education and
vocational education disciplines, and 3) balance the workload
of the division deans.
Questions on Collegial Consultation
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Who decides which of the two processes in
the regulations, “rely primarily” or “mutual
agreement,” should be used on a given
issue?
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Must a local board select only one procedure
for addressing all ten of the identified
academic and professional matters, or can
there be a different approach used for the
different matters?
Questions on Collegial Consultation
One of the ten areas of "academic and
professional matters" is "processes for
institutional planning and budget development."
Does this regulation relate to the institutional
plans and budgets themselves, or only to the
process by which plans and budgets are
developed for presentation to the board?
Scenario #2 (from Scenarios to Illustrate Effective
Participation in District and College Governance)
The faculty and staff development committee has
approved a particular flex day activity for faculty. A
group of faculty object to this activity, have gotten no
satisfaction in complaints to the faculty and staff
development committee, and now have brought a
resolution to the academic senate to stop that
particular activity.
Questions on Collegial Consultation
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Which is “better” for local senates,
“rely primarily” or “mutual agreement”?
Other Legal Provisions Related to Faculty
Curriculum Committee: Established by mutual
agreement of administration and senate
Title 5 §55002
Administrator Retreat Rights: Process agreed
upon jointly; board to rely primarily upon the advice
and judgment of the academic senate to determine
that the administrator possesses minimum
qualifications for employment as a faculty member
Ed Code §87458
Other Legal Provisions Related to Faculty
Appointments to College Bodies: The
appointment of faculty members to serve on college
or district committees, task forces, or other groups
dealing with academic and professional matters,
shall be made, after consultation with the chief
executive officer or his or her designee, by the
academic senate. Notwithstanding this Subsection,
the collective bargaining representative may seek to
appoint faculty members to committees, task forces,
or other groups.
Title 5 §53203 (f)
Other Legal Provisions Related to Faculty
Equivalencies to Minimum Qualifications:
Process, criteria and standards agreed upon jointly
by board designee and academic senate
Ed Code §87359
Faculty Hiring: Criteria, policies and procedures
shall be agreed upon jointly by board designee and
academic senate
Ed Code §87360
Other Legal Provisions Related to Faculty
Collective Bargaining
§  Decision-making policies and implementation cannot
detract from negotiated agreements on wages and
working conditions
§  Academic senate and bargaining representatives may
establish agreements as to consulting, collaborating,
sharing or delegating (Title 5 §53204)
§  In those districts where the following are collectively
bargained, the exclusive bargaining agent shall consult
with the academic senate prior to engaging in
bargaining on: Faculty Evaluation (Ed Code §87663),
Tenure (Ed Code §87610.6) and Faculty Service Areas
(Ed Code §87743.2)
Staff Roles in College Governance
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Governing boards adopt policies and procedures that provide
staff opportunity to participate effectively in district and college
governance.
§  formulation and development of policies and procedures,
and
§  processes for jointly developing recommendations
§  that have or will have a significant effect on staff.
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Board shall not take action on matters significantly affecting
staff until the recommendations and opinions of staff are given
every reasonable consideration.
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Title 5 §51023.5
Student Roles in College Governance
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Governing board adopt policies and procedures that provide
students opportunity to participate effectively in district and
college governance on formulation and development policies
and procedures and processes for jointly developing
recommendations that have or will have a significant effect on
students.
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Board shall not take action on a matter having a significant
effect on students until recommendations and positions by
students are given every reasonable consideration.
§  Title 5 §51023.7
Regulation: Students
Polices and procedure that have a “significant effect on students” include :
(1) grading polices
(2) codes of student conduct
(3) academic disciplinary policies
(4) curriculum development
(5) courses or programs which should be initiated or discontinued
(6) processes for institutional planning and budget development
(7) standards and polices regarding student preparation and success
(8) student services planning and development
(9) student fees within the authority of the district to adopt
(10) any other district and college policy, procedure or related matter that the district
governing board determines will have a significant effect on students
Title 5 §51023.7
Question on Collegial Consultation
Does the term “rely primarily upon the advice
and judgment of the academic senate” mean
that the governing board should not receive and
consider the advice and judgment of others on
issues of “academic and professional
matters?”
Scenario #3 (from Scenarios to Illustrate Effective
Participation in District and College Governance)
Following a recommendation of its Educational Policies
Committee, consisting of faculty representatives of each of
the college divisions, the academic senate has passed a
resolution calling for the governing board to establish plus/
minus grading. Grading policies are a “rely primarily” issue
in the district. The item is placed on the board agenda and
the associated students president objects on the grounds
that students did not participate in the development of the
recommendation. The governing board pulls the item from
the agenda and asks the academic senate and the
associated students to work together on the proposal.
Question
Should the advice the judgment of the
academic senate be accorded greater weight
than the advice and judgment of other groups
and constituencies in connection with
“academic and professional matters?”
Question
Do these regulations have the force of law?
Question
What powers do the Board of Governors have
to enforce Title 5 Regulations such as the ones
on strengthening local senates?
Scenario #4(from Scenarios to Illustrate Effective
Participation in District and College Governance)
The matriculation coordinator needs the
signature of the academic senate president on
the matriculation budget report the day before
the report is due. There has been no prior
opportunity for consultation, and this is the first
time the academic senate president has seen
the report. The academic senate president
refuses to sign.
Scenario #5 (from Scenarios to Illustrate Effective
Participation in District and College Governance)
A new occupational program is being considered, one which
is unrelated to any existing program at the college. The
college does not currently employ any faculty in the
discipline covering the new program, either full- or part-time.
Developing a job announcement through the Office of
Instruction and using the Dean of Occupational Education
and the Director of Community Services as the screening
committee, the president is set to recommends to the
governing board the hiring of two part-time faculty to develop
the curriculum for the new program. This method of
developing a job announcement and screening candidates
does not follow the existing hiring policy.
Thank You
David Morse
Academic Senate
for California Community
Colleges
www.asccc.org
Peter Garcia
Community College
League
of California
www.ccleague.org